Mark and I grill a lot during the summer so burgers end up in the regular dinner rotation during the warm months. Now that it’s cold (and dark so early), I’ve been missing my burgers. Still, just frying regular burgers in a pan didn’t sound as appealing so I decided a twist on our normal burgers were in order.

These patty melts make for a really fun burger night – just add oven fries and a soda!

Patty Melts
(from the Fall 2007 issue of Cooking for 2)

1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
2 T. butter, softened, divided
1/2 lb. ground beef
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
4 sliced rye bread
2 T. Thousand Island salad dressing
2 t. prepared horseradish
2 slices American cheese

In a large skillet, saute onion in 1 T. butter until tender. Remove and keep warm.

Shape beef into two oval patties; sprinkle with salt and pepper. In the same skillet, cook patties over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until no longer pink; drain. Remove and keep warm.

Spread remaining butter over one side of each slice of bread. Place in skillet, buttered side down until lightly browned. Combine salad dressing and horseradish. On two slices of toast, layer a slice of cheese, a beef patty, half of the onion and dressing mixture. Top with remaining toast.